Thread: Ways to handle depression?

Read Taosaur's signature...

Originally Posted by mcwillis

Read Taosaur's signature...

I guess that refers to helping the less fortunate.

You know it sucks big time being the nice person and everyone just neglect about your contributions.

Exercise and diet are key. It will be hard at first. It's taken me a while to finally go to the gym consistently. I'd go for a while, then stop. Go for a while, then stop... every time I'd go for a while, I felt GREAT. When I stopped going (and didn't replace gym time with other physical activities)? Not so great. I've finally gotten to the point where I go every other day. If I skip a gym day, I actually start feeling grouchy and mopey.

I've also been biking a lot lately. The gym time seems to create gradual sense of happiness, but the second I'm on a bike I feel great. The days when I feel down are almost always the days I don't go to the gym/biking.


There are a lot of options for exercise. Skiing, skating, swimming, jogging, hiking, biking, walking... speaking of walking, do you have a dog? I don't (can't at this apt), but I think dogs (or just a pet you love) can help tremendously as well. And taking a dog for a walk is a blast. I love seeing them get crazy happy just to run around sniffing other dogs' piss.


A proper diet can help too. Obviously eating unhealthy food isn't good. But even if you eat healthy, you may be missing an important part of a good diet, and this can lead to feeling unhappy. If you can find a good nutritionist, go over a diet plan with them.



One more thing to add: We as humans have an amazing ability. We can change just about anything and everything about us. Not just physical. We can change what we like to eat. We can change what we think about ourselves. We can change our outlook on life. We can change how our bodies feel. We can change our overall level of happiness. Of course, these aren't easy changes. But they CAN be done. Don't get stuck in the mindset of, "This is just who I am." That's not who you are. You are whatever you think. So if you think you're depressed... you will be.

Originally Posted by Neoquestmoo

There isn't any real particular cause for the depression usually.. I just suddenly feel like I'm drowning and I feel horrible about everything, and for a day or two I just can't feel good about anything.

Get under the sun. Dance! Meditate... be around positive people/energy. Try something new. Get a new hobby! A new sport? Go to music shows! Go on adventures around your town. Walk around, get lost, and explore! There's a ton of ways out of this. Try everything. Don't just say you've tried it. Try again, even if you have tried it before. I know what you mean though. I get the same feeling. And to get over it, I just pop in my headphones, walk around the city and think about everything I'm taking for granted. Change yourself.

Bake cookies.

I'll be spending a lot of time on this thread, so don't fault me for any double posts.

Origami Diagrams

Umm.. stop being a pussy I guess. Everyone gets depressed from time to time, it's no big deal. Exercise is something that should be done on a regular basis anyways, funny how so many people need to mention it. Your cause of depression is non-specific, you just feel like you're "drowning" and "feel horrible about everything". You don't need medication for that, it sounds more like you need a definite purpose in life. Also I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say you have way too much free time, which you spend moping around the house. If you're productive and working towards your career, you won't have time to feel sad and pathetic. Accomplishing things will also build your self-worth.

But this is all common sense, so I'm usually wary whenever I see threads like this; because I assume the poster just wants some love and attention. Trying to solicit support from people is the last thing you need to be doing. Stop victimizing yourself and self-dramatizing your situation. You didn't have a death in the family or any legitimate reason for depression as far as you stated, so I'm gonna assume that's the case.

Perhaps this thread should be in 'Help'.

go swimming,
go kiss someone
listen to some good music
find something to take your mind off your troubles
do something exciting
Boredom creates depression

I have to say, another reason you should be trying to get out of the house is to get some sunlight; it helps improve your mood. There's another nice reason to go on that nice long walk everyone keeps telling you to go on Seriously, when I was getting my shit together I spent basically a whole summer outside wandering about, and it really helped.

Originally Posted by Neoquestmoo

I have been diagnosed with depression by several doctors and psychologists.
I am allergic to most medicines (including all current anti-depressants) and though I do have therapy sessions, they only do so much.
Can anyone suggest some ideas to help deal with it? Note that I am not severely depressed, and about 60% of the time I feel fine or better. But do any of you know any ways to ease the pain?
Sorry if this is a repost, I looked and couldn't find a thread like this.

Nothing beats a sofa and a television for depression. (11:11)

From post 7 of this thread

http://www.dreamviews.com/f96/enligh...ecture-125855/

Originally Posted by Blunt

Get under the sun.

Good point. A lot of people suffer from seasonal affective disorder, so depending on where you live this could play a major role in any depression you may experience.

Sleep deprivation. Short term, however.

Doing the things you love. Obviously.

Originally Posted by Warheit

Doing the things you love. Obviously.

Not particularily helpful. If you're truly depressed then you won't really love doing anything.

My advice would be try and force yourself to do some sort of exercise, push yourself to your physical limit. I always feel amazing after a day-long hillwalk.

Originally Posted by Pensive Patrick

Not particularily helpful. If you're truly depressed then you won't really love doing anything.

As someone who has had bouts of depression over the past four years, I can tell you that me going for bike rides, driving fast cars, playing my guitar and following my bliss made things a lot better. Sitting around doing nothing certainly would not have. Getting active will. How do I know this? It worked for me. This article seems to agree.

I know, I said that my advice was to get active.

It's just that from my experience with depressed people they don't 'love' doing anything while in a bout of depression, that's all.

Originally Posted by Pensive Patrick

I know, I said that my advice was to get active.

It's just that from my experience with depressed people they don't 'love' doing anything while in a bout of depression, that's all.

Yeah, and you do know that most people who are depressed do not have the get up and go to be active. I was simply encouraging people do do what they enjoy. It has helped for me. It has helped others. Just as you were encouraging others to get active.

I mean seriously, stop being petulant and criticizing every fucking word I say. Well, I will just take care of it. First person to be put on ignore: Pensive Patrick.

Sowwy

Originally Posted by Warheit

Well, I will just take care of it. First person to be put on ignore: Pensive Patrick.

Patrick is such a doodoo head, sometimes.

The philosopher Søren Kierkegaard once said that the it is an individual's responsibility to come up with their own purpose and ideals in life and that once we have that one thing in our minds, we ought to pursue it wholeheartedly. Only then can you experience true happiness.

Find someone that cares about you and talk to them about your problems. Ultimately, this is something you'll have to overcome yourself but loved ones can give you the strength to stand back up again after life has tried to knock you down.

ThePieMan: That is pretty good advice. Change and wanting to get better comes from the inside. You have to want to change. However, it is also good to be able to have a close friend or friends that you can confide in and trust. I'd listen to PieMan.

Is it me or DV has a huge number of people who had depression before. I forgot how I managed to walk out of it, mine wasn't serious in the first place too. But school ended and made everything easier. I was still a little loony after school ended though. Then I told myself I want to experience being happy for the sake of being happy after reading a post on DV.

Originally Posted by mcwillis

I have read several hundred books covering this subject and could elaborate deeply on this subject but I have been wasting too much of my precious spare time involved in your 'What is Science' thread.

Our true inner nature is pure bliss. If one has an intact and undamaged brain then the main basic reason why we don't experience pure bliss on a continuous basis is basically because of our mental detachment to the thousands of demands and expectations that we place on every aspect of our experience of life. When one converts those demands and expactations into preferences one experiences true happiness. For every desire we have we pay a price in lost happiness. Have you noticed when you have a desire manifested that you feel happiness when your desire is met but then discover that with time the happiness recedes? This is because the manifestation of our demands and expectations cannot generate lasting happiness, only short lived joy.

There is so much to discuss here from many different levels but in essence the above is correct. I have only met one truly happy person in life because he dedicated every spare moment of his life in converting his demands and expectation of his experience of life into preferences. The journey for him took several decades of super-human discipline and he would go for weeks at a time feeling nothing but ecstatic bliss no matter the experience of life through his five physical senses. His prescence was incredible and he had a profound effect on people because he was operating at such a high level of consciousness.

I assume mcwillis meant attachment and not detachment when he says: '.....then the main basic reason why we don't experience pure bliss on a continuous basis is basically because of our mental detachment to the thousands of demands and expectations that we place on every aspect of our experience of life.'